Woodlands

The woodland is a very diverse biome in the world. Although it is rare, a small amount of it can be found in many places in the world. “Chaparral” is its given name in Spanish coming from the word “chapa,” meaning scrub oak. In Chile, “mata” is Spanish for “shrub,” for this reason the formation is known as “matorral.” In the Mediterranean, “maquis” is what the shrublands are locally known as. Chaparral or Sclerophyll biome appears in between the latitudes of 30 degrees and 40 degrees North and South. They are found along the west coast of some portions of most continents since the favorable climate conditions include shores near cold ocean currents. Woodlands can be found at:
 * Woodland/ Shrubland (Chaparral) Biome **
 * United States, California west coast
 * South America, Chile west coast and central
 * South Africa, Cape Town area
 * South Africa, Albany thickest
 * Southwest Australia
 * Southeast Australia
 * Southcentral Australia
 * Western Australia
 * Southern Australia (eastern part)
 * Asia minor (western area)
 * Syria (southern and western Turkey)
 * Lebanon (some parts)
 * Israel (some parts)
 * Macedonia (southeastern coast)
 * Portugal (some parts)
 * Spain (southeastern and northern)
 * Italy (southern and northern)
 * Morocco (north Africa)
 * Libya (north Africa)
 * Tunisia (north Africa)
 * Egypt (north Africa)
 * Algeria (north Africa)
 * Slovenia
 * Croatia
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * Montenegro
 * Albania
 * France (area around Mediterranean coast)
 * Greece (northern)

=**Fauna**= There are over thousands of animals who inhabitant in the Woodlands’ biome. Many of the identified ones are located in the open Woodland, where they feed on leaves or lichens and fungi and house in tree barks. Others are located in the closed Woodland, where they live in dead wood, pools, wet hollows, trees, and even the ground. These creatures contribute a lot to the Woodlands, including the recycling of dead material into nutrients (typically from the bugs which live in plants). Common animals seen in this biome includes: = =
 * Aardvark
 * Ant
 * California Quail
 * Chipmunk
 * Collared Peccary
 * Coyote
 * Fox
 * Goat
 * Great Horned Owl
 * Hedgehog
 * Javelina
 * Lynx
 * Mountain Lion
 * Quoll
 * Rabbit
 * Rattlesnake
 * Red Fox
 * Roadrunner
 * Scorpion
 * Tuatara
 * Wallaby
 * Weasel
 * Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly

=**Flora**= The main vegetation found in the woodland biome are shrubs. They range in a great vast variety that must adapt themselves to drought and fire since they are aromatic and flammable. Fortunately, the plants that inhabit the area have sclerophyllous leaves that are leathery needle-like or thick cuticle, which are vital for locking moisture. Most vegetation is short, being less than eight feet tall, but even so the plants are leafy. Some plants found are:
 * Sage
 * Rosemary
 * Thyme
 * Oregano
 * Oaks
 * Pines
 * Cedars
 * Wild carob
 * Wild olive
 * Foothills chaparral
 * Ceonothus
 * Mountain mahogany
 * Sumac
 * Toyon
 * Manzanita
 * Cycads
 * Amaryllis
 * Gladiolus
 * Aloe
 * Eucalyptus
 * Mallee
 * Poison oak
 * Scrub oak
 * Yucca wiple
 * Cacti
 * Cork oak

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =**Average Temperature and Precipitation**= The scorching hot and extremely dry weather during the summer makes wildfire more prone to occur. Lack of rain and the general dryness of the biome makes putting out forest fires much harder. During the winter, it gets very moist and hot. Rainfall is slightly scarce but precipitation rates ranges from 20-100 mm yearly. Most of the precipitation occurs during the winter time during the spring season. High temperatures and low precipitation rates results in poor soil in the biome.



=Human Impact= Humans have changed the world in their satisfactory in order to have a more comfortable, productive environment for centuries. What they don't realize is that they are slowly harming natural biomes by doing so, and the woodlands is only one of a million examples of these hazardous changes. There are many contributions to how human impact has damaged the woodland as well as benefit it.
 * 1) Area - The amount of woodlands have significantly decreased due to the need to build roadways and businesses as well as houses. This includes:
 * production of electricit
 * expansion of garbage sites
 * mineral extraction
 * cumulative development.
 * 1) Chemicals - In order to farm more smoothly, chemicals are applied to areas in order to increase the efficiency and speed in which crops grow. In contrast, these chemicals could also force natural species and plants to die or immigrate. Chemicals include:
 * herbicides
 * pesticides
 * heavy metals
 * toxic/nutrient-rich leachates
 * sulfur and nitrogen oxides
 * 1) Disturbance/Fragmentation - Foreign activities are present because of the results of chopping down trees and paving roads in the woodlands' area. These include noises that weren't there before (such as construction, factories, etc.) and sunlight that would have been blocked by large trees. These disruptions causes natural species who inhabitant in the region to immigrate, or even worse, extinct.
 * 2) Non-native plant species - There are several ways foreign plants grow in the woodlands: from it being planted by farmers or because of the area change. This can serve to be a positive impact, or seen in a negative aspect in which these new plants are growing over the old ones, meaning they are taking over and causing the original plants to be unable to grow (with the possibility of extinction).

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